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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27526840">Lone Star</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruIchigo/pseuds/HaruIchigo'>HaruIchigo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Drama &amp; Romance, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Planet Tatooine (Star Wars), Religious Guilt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 06:08:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,954</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27526840</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruIchigo/pseuds/HaruIchigo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With the beginning of winter, Cobb began to think about him more and more, and for him it was a sure sign that Mando would return.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lone Star</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            A translation of

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27490198">Одинокая звезда</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruIchigo/pseuds/HaruIchigo">HaruIchigo</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>NATIVE SPEAKER BETA WANTED</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The winter came suddenly. In the morning, Cobb wanted to draw water for the caf, and found that during the night the filter in the barrel was frozen, and the moisture vaporators were covered with frost.<br/>
The frost slowly melted under the rising suns, leaving perspiration on the iron grate, and looking at it, Cobb suddenly remembered Mando: how his beskar shone in the heat.<br/>
And realized how much he missed the man.<br/>
How can you miss a person whom you've met only once? But with the beginning of winter, Cobb began to think about him more and more, and for him it was a sure sign that Mando would return.<br/>
Therefore, when he saw a familiar speeder near the cantina, he was not surprised.</p><p>"... a Devaronian," Cobb heard as he entered, and smiled. It was definitely his Mando - the same voice, the same set of armor ... how well he wore it, that son of a bitch! It fitted him like a glove, Cobb was ready to bet that it doesn’t chafe or pinch, that each strap fits perfectly.<br/>
He clicked his tongue, examining Mando.</p><p>“Shiny as always! And all arms and legs are intact. Weequay, a bottle of spochka, for the meeting. And one glass”.</p><p>Mando stood up and was the first to hold out his hand. The helmet's voice module muffled his grin.</p><p>“Marshal”.</p><p>Pity that Mando hadn't had a single patch of skin visible - it was like shaking a droid's hand. But the palm was unmistakably warm under the glove.</p><p>“I would take a second glass, but you will not drink, will you?” Cobb arranged a blue bottle in the middle and poured himself a glassfull. “What brought you here again? Going to drag me into some madness?”</p><p>“No. This is a job. I'm looking for a man, he needs to be delivered alive.”</p><p>Cobb brought the glass to his mouth, but stopped halfway. A list of wanted criminals flickered through his head. The bounty hunters have completely cleaned up these places, so who is left ...</p><p>“I didn't know you were doing this, but… you're a Mandalorian, it’s only logical. What about your... mission?”</p><p>“You need to eat to follow the Path”.</p><p>“And feed the baby. That’s a fine dad ... by the way, where is the little guy? Left him in Mos Eisley?”</p><p>“No, I ... that's why I came. You may know about the man. And I don't want to drag the child into the desert. Can I count on you?”</p><p>His tone was reserved, as always, but Cobb could clearly hear the tension and fatigue seeping in. Krayt knows what Mando has been up to all this time, but he certainly hasn't been resting or getting enough sleep.</p><p>“Sure thing. However, I do not know much about children ... maybe I will be more useful to you in the desert? Let's go together, and…”</p><p>“Too dangerous.”</p><p>“Too dangerous for two, but not for one?”</p><p>“Without armor there are one and a half”.</p><p>“But still two blasters. Okay, I won't beg you.” Cobb raised his hands in defeat.  “I heard you are looking for a Devaronian? One passed through here a couple of days ago. In his place, I would move further south. If he's smart enough, you'll find him at some farm. If not, you'll stumble upon a beautiful, frozen corpse.”</p><p>“The winter came earlier …”  Judging by the voice, Mando did not take this into account.</p><p>“If you arrived at night, you would have noticed.” Cobb grinned. “As a local, he was pleased  that for once Mando knew less about Tatooine than he did.  “Yes, winter has come, and the last dust storms will strike soon”.</p><p>“How do you know?”</p><p>“My knees ache”.</p><p>It sounded like a joke, but the pain was real. Long ago, the master broke his knees after an escape attempt. But Cobb has never talked about this. He didn’t know how proud Mandalorians felt about slaves, and he didn’t want to have it out.</p><p>Mando sighed in exasperation.</p><p>“So I need to work fast”.</p><p> It wasn’t just words. He left the cantina, handed Cobb the child, jumped on a speeder and got off.</p><p>“If you’ll be late, look for the Lone Star!” Cobb shouted to his back. “It rises in the South!”</p><p>He wasn't sure if Mando could find the Lone Star in the Tatooine night sky. On the other hand ... was there something impossible for this man?</p><p>***</p><p>He couldn’t leave the child at home, so Cobb decided to make it a “bring your kids to work” day. The residents of Mos Pelgo decided that since they now have a marshal, they need a station too. The station was a former smokehouse: the newly-made marshal dismantled the stoves for scrap metal, fenced off the corner with a bars, and put two tables opposite the door, for himself and Issa-Or. Issa just rolled her eyes at this: she preferred to patrol in the desert, not sitting in the "Smokehouse" (as the locals still called it). But Cobb liked their little office. These tables, a half-empty datapad cabinet (formerly a tool rack) made his job more official. More real.</p><p>Fortunately, there were not many "lodgers" in the cell: usually the drank miners who were making a ruckus in the cantina on payday. One such, a Zabrak was suffering from a hangover on a narrow bunk.</p><p>“Let me out, Marshal…” he croaked when he saw Cobb. “I'm done ... I'm sorry! I’ll apologize to Weekway”.</p><p>“And I'm sorry too, but the law is the law. A day, Yoro, no less”.</p><p>Cobb put the child on the table. He had no idea how to deal with children. Maybe this green creature also needed a beastmaster, like the Hutt slug he and Issa found once?</p><p>Mando did not say anything about him, except that the fry is omnivorous and nimble. Was it his child? Or a foundling?</p><p>“Who is your mom, little guy?” Cobb muttered, looking into the child's curious eyes. The child also studied him in return, his little mouth open. “It doesn't look like your daddy has many women. Or men, or anyone at all. But I bet Issa would have liked him, that's her type”.</p><p>He almost said, "and mine," but in his youth his type was anyone who bothered to find out his name and buy him a drink. Since then, much water has flowed under the bridge, and to hell with these dashing smugglers and harsh bounty hunters... but Mando ...</p><p>“Marshal…” Yoro moaned. ”Water…”</p><p>“Of course, buddy”. Cobb went to the barrell for only a couple of minutes, but this was enough for the child to disappear”.</p><p>“Shit ... have you seen the kid?”</p><p>The miner drained his mug in two gulps and wiped his mouth.</p><p>“Let me out, and I’ll speak”.</p><p>Cobb shook his head reproachfully.</p><p>“Decency, Yoro. That's what you're missing. And that's why you will continue to sit here”.</p><p>He quickly searched the entire office and looked out the door. The kid, hobbling in his oversized robes, shuffled along the road in the direction where Mando had gone.</p><p>“Huh? Come on, you too are under arrest”. Cobb jumped off the porch and caught the child. The kid did not particularly resist, only squeaked something. His ears drooped, his wrinkled face assumed a completely mournful expression.<br/>
Perhaps Mando was a good father, since the child missed him so much.</p><p>“He'll be back soon. Until then, don't frame me, boy”. Cobb awkwardly sat the kid on the crook of his elbow. “You know what? Let’s feed you and then... I don't know ... do you want to hear a story or something?”<br/>
The kid squeaked again. Mando warned that he never refuses to eat.</p><p>Cobb eventually shared with him his mushroom paste and krayt jerky. The kid happily munched everything that was offered to him, but constantly looked at the door.</p><p>“You break my heart, you know that?” Cobb sat down with his back to the entrance, which he hadn't done in a long time, and cuddled a green bundle in his lap. “You'd better sit quietly, and I'll try to tell a fairy-tale. Well… erm... as my mother used to say ... Once upon a time there was a chap who was into pod racing and owed a large one to the Hutts.</p><p>“Doesn't sound like a fairy tale,” Yoro commented.</p><p>“Oh, it’s for now. That chap owed the Hutts a large sum and went on the run. Then the Hutt hired a Mandalorian just like your daddy, kid. And the Mandalorian set off on the trail.</p><p>He tried to speak slowly, just like his mother once did. In her fairy tale, there were, of course, no "chaps" and hutts, but Cobb could not remember anything magical for the plot.</p><p>“Of course, Mando tracked that chap and pinned him down. The chap begged for mercy. He promised him whatever he wanted, just to let him go.<br/>
But Mando said, "I don't need money, give me your daughter for the wife." And the man immediately agreed, because he was an asshole like you won’t believe”.</p><p>"Do the Mandalorians really do that?" </p><p>“When ours gets back, I'll ask him.” Cobb yawned. The kid listened, his fluffy little head pressed against his shoulder. “Well, Mando took his new wife and brought her to the clan or whatever they call it. Everything was fine, but there were all sorts of weird shit in their personal life. For example, they always made love only in the dark, because he could not take off his helmet in front of someone who was not a Mandalorian. In bed, he put a rifle between them. And she couldn't really touch him because of all that armor.<br/>
And yet the girl was interested, like any normal person would. So at night, when he fell asleep, she shone a flashlight on him ... and... jackpot!  He is handsome! But at that very moment he woke up ...</p><p>Cobb closed his eyes. It was a long story about the expulsion of the Mandalorian, about a girl following him through fields of blue singing grass, about a secret hyperlane going west of the moon and east of the sun. About the Hutt Queen, whom the Mando had to serve ... and in the end other Mandos flocked to his call from all over the galaxy, and ...</p><p>Two suns slid lazily to the horizon, a chill blew from the door, but he did not even notice, dozing in mid-sentence.<br/>
The shadow stepped imperceptibly on the threshold. Yoro opened his mouth to warn, but the shadow shook his head, and he immediately changed his mind.</p><p>***</p><p>Probably the Devaronian actually laid down in some cave, with a heater.<br/>
The two suns were still heating up the desert, but digging up the sand, Din felt the damp cold of the unheated earth. Winter was insidious on Tatooine, it seemed to come from the depths of the planet and freeze through everything that the suns did not have time to burn during the day.<br/>
If only the Devaronian had put up a tent ... but it was foolish to count on such luck.</p><p>Naturally, there was no tent on the horizon. And on the farms around Mos Pelgo, no one saw the fugitive. </p><p>He had to go on; Cobb will look after the child, there are no obstacles. But Din decided to go back: to eat well, to sleep… the work promised to be more tedious than he had strength to.</p><p>A cloudy haze hung on the horizon — a sure sign of a sandstorm — but it was far away. For a day or two it would rage in the west, and even Cobb, with his prophetic knees could not know where it would move later.</p><p>Din turned back reluctantly. To check if the child is okay and get some water for a longer journey, yes. But there was also a reason - he wanted to talk to a person who did not need anything from him. Maybe tell him about their trip with the little one… just to watch Cobb raise his eyebrows, or flash that irritatingly petfect smile, his eyes sparkle in surprise. It would be ... not bad.</p><p>Din was not good at making friends. He did not want to get closer to anyone and did not know the ways. He knew, though, that even those who seemed easy to approach had their pitfalls. As Paz Viszla, who was ready to be on his side for any stupid adventure when they were kids. But as he grew up, he harbored a grudge. Din couldn't blame him, they had too little in common. Once, Paz pushed him against the wall and allegedly tried to remove his helmet. As a joke, like in the old days. Din shuddered then, and easily threw the heavy, tall Paz away with a sheer force of disgust. They weren't teenagers anymore, fighting and teasing each other before moving on to the more pleasant part. Everything has changed.<br/>
But Paz didn't want to change. They couldn’t go along the Way together.</p><p>He and Cobb couldn’t go along too, he knew it. But Cobb felt surprisingly far from any road, and it was... refreshing. Din felt that it would not end well, though.<br/>
But he turned back anyway.</p><p>He returned to Mos Pelgo as the two suns were setting. No one even looked at him as if he had become his own. And for a second he felt like he was in a Tribe.<br/>
A woman hastily knitting a scarf on the porch, showed him the way to the "Marshal's Smokehouse", and the first thing he saw as he crossed the threshold was Cobb, slouched over on a chair, and in front of him - a Zabrak behind bars. The Zabrak stood up, clearly about to signal, but Din shook his head and silently walked around Cobb. He slept, breathing quietly, and the baby on his lap was snoring too, drooling over his red shirt.<br/>
Din reached out to take the child away without disturbing anyone, but the muzzle of the blaster pressed against his neck.</p><p>“I don't think so”. Cobb’s gaze was cold and clear, as if he hadn't slept at all. But the cold was immediately replaced by recognition. “Krayt, Mando! You scared me”.</p><p>“But I didn’t take you by surprise. Thanks”. Din was strangely moved by this. Cobb really defended the kid. And, by how carefully he handed him over, it was clear that he did care.</p><p>“Marshal reports: I fed the little one, told him a fairy tale. Do you bathe him? I have enough water for that. For you too, by the way: Tatooine hospitality.</p><p>“Do you invite us to your place?”</p><p>Cobb smiled, stretching, knuckles crunching.</p><p>“This, or I can lock you up with Yoro. Come on, you need to have a proper dinner that are not rations”.</p><p>“Hey, Marshal, what about me?” Yoro asked, worried.</p><p>“You will be fine. Issa-Or will return and give you something”.</p><p>"Are you sure you will contact her, Marshal? Not like the last time?”</p><p>“Yes, yes! I already apologized for the last time, okay?”</p><p>“I want an omelet then”.</p><p>“For dinner? Your fantasies scare me, Yoro. Okay, I'll tell her about the omelet. See ya!”</p><p>Din smiled as he listened to their banter. Cobb, apparently, was so used to taking care of everyone that the baby did not change anything in his routine.</p><p>“You told the child a story. About what?” Din asked as they walked home at dusk.</p><p>“A fairy tale, not a story. About the Mandalorian”. Cobb seemed a little embarrassed, realizing the mistake. Din frowned, annoyed.</p><p>“Only I can tell him about the Mandalorians because I know the truth. You can’t”.</p><p>Cobb didn’t understand and couldn’t understand how serious it was, but Din still felt a stab of resentment. Like a betrayal.</p><p>“Easy, Mando. It was just a fairy tale, don't get fired up. With a good ending, about love and about how all the Mandalorians got back together and lived happily ever after”.</p><p>“It's impossible”, Din wanted to say, but said nothing out of pride. There was no happily ever after for the Mandalorians, but Cobb was a die-hard optimist. And Din liked that about him. Among other things.</p><p>“Does not matter. Just don’t do it anymore”.</p><p>“Understandable. From now on - only fairy tales about womp-rats and lothcats”.  Cobb walked over to one of the white houses, round against the starry sky, and opened the door. He trusted his people so much that he didn't even lock it, and Din was oddly liking that too.</p><p>However, there was nothing to take in the house, although the owner managed to create comfort even from the lack of things. Mats, a hearth with live fire, an earthen table that was obviously molded the same time as the house, and cantina chairs. In a niche behind a curtain, was a dais, covered with a colorful knitted blanket, - a bed. Lesser niches had the same curtains over them - wardrobes.</p><p>Cobb immediately squatted down in front of the hearth and lit a fire. The sweet smell of grass, like a Tusken fire, filled the room, and Din felt suddenly how tired he was.</p><p>As Cobb rummaged through the cupboards, he sat staring into the fire, listening for the clattering of the plates, and for the first time in days allowed himself to think of nothing, until a bowl of stew and a glass of something brown appeared in front of him.</p><p>“I will go to the workshop and feed the kid. Call me when you're done“.</p><p>Cobb probably wouldn't mind stretching out by the fire either, but he didn't even show it. He just picked up the child and disappeared behind the curtain in the back room. Taking off his helmet, DIn could hear him chatting about the X-wing flying into the hangar and child’s delightful squealing.<br/>
It was unusual to feel the heat on his face, Din did not want to part with this sensation, but he ate quickly, not wanting to make Cobb wait. Then he could go to the workshop, pull off  his boots and armor ... maybe sleep without a helmet ...</p><p>He rose with a sigh, shoved the empty plate and mug into the dishwasher, and put  his helmet back on.</p><p>In the midst of the chaos of speeder parts and wires of unknown purpose, dirty white armor stood on the workbench, or rather, only a cuirass and a helmet remained of the armor. The kid was just trying to gnaw off its ridge.</p><p>“This is the clone trooper armor. Where did you get it?” Din lifted the helmet from the workbench and peered inside. All the electronic stuffing was ripped out, it was impossible to wear.</p><p>“And where does everything come from on this planet? But this particular one I pried from your friend Peli’s clawed predatory grip. I have not yet seen a person who trades like Jawa, my respect to her”.</p><p>“You can throw it away. It won't do for anything”.</p><p>“We don't throw anything away on Tatooine”. Cobb stroked the cuirass. “Since you took the Mando armor from me, I decided to make myself an armor that no one would claim. Clean it up there, paint it here ... yes, the helmet needs a hell of a tinkering, but I have arms and legs, they just need to be adjusted, left over from one Gamorrean... If you help me, we will have two fighters again, not one and a half”.</p><p>Din sighed. Waste a day or more so that the Marshal has the opportunity to drag after him ...</p><p>“Thank you, I can handle it alone”.</p><p>“Together we will scout the area faster. Don't be stubborn, Mando, we seem to be a good team. But if you want to have a sore ass from bumping through the endless desert alone, I will not interfere”.</p><p>... but whose fault is this, that marshal now defending the town in a shirt?</p><p>“Fine. I'll do the wiring, you do the tinkering”.</p><p>Cobb beamed and patted him on the shoulder.</p><p>“That’s the spirit!”</p><p>Din didn't tell him that he gave up because he wanted to give up. He returned to the fire, taking the child with him; Cobb sat across from him with a glass of whiskey. They were silent for a long time, and Din knew that the marshal was waiting for a story. So he cleared his throat and began to speak.</p><p>Cobb listened exactly as he imagined: sometimes seriously and attentively, sometimes raising a cocked eyebrow. Chuckling, eyes glitter. Disbelievingly, and trusting completely at the same time. Maybe he didn't understand everything, but he felt everything, and felt everything right ...</p><p> “Oh, Mando. It’s a treat to listen to you finally speaking in long sentences”, - he pronounced the verdict. “Time to sleep, I guess? Fresher is that way, make yourself at home...” </p><p>“Din”.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“My name is Din. Not Mando”.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>Cobb was sincerely going to give up his bed to Mando ... to Din, but he refused and went to sleep in the workshop, under the workbench.<br/>
By this time, Cobb had completely ceased to hope for anything. They chatted nicely, but nothing more. Not that he was planning ... it just would be nice ... but no means no.<br/>
On the other hand, he mused, as he brewed caf in the morning and listened to the water splashing in the fresher, as Din was sternly reprimanding the kid about something. On the other hand, he gave his name. It means something to the Mandalorians, right?<br/>
He listened and realized that for the first time he heard Din's real voice, not distorted by the helmet. There was little difference, but Cobb felt his ears turn red.</p><p>“I'm in the workshop!” He shouted. “I will not go out, have your breakfast in peace”.</p><p>But he himself was far from peaceful. He shifted and rearranged the instruments, thinking that right now behind a thin curtain, a real, unguarded Din was drinking caf... why be nervous? There, under the armor, is the most ordinary man. Strong man, he could easily lift Cobb, albeit shorter. Broad-shouldered, covered in scars. Fingers are fast, dexterous, accustomed to blaster and ship controls, but when they touch someone, they stiffen. And the face ... krayt knows. Cobb wasn’t really picky in that department.</p><p>When Din finally arrived, without armor, but in overalls and a helmet, not a millimeter of bare skin, Cobb still felt guilty, as if he was spying.<br/>
The awkwardness, however, quickly faded away, replaced by the usual flow of thoughtful workshop talk.</p><p>Long "pfffff" when looking at the amount of work. The sound of the hammer.</p><p>"And how am I going to press it? With my nose? We need to take the controller out."</p><p>"You don't need it to be that steep."</p><p>"Wait, I'll take a look in the Holonet. There should be a picture of original..."</p><p>"Just hold it over here."</p><p>Stars, how he missed this ...</p><p>By evening, Cobb finally realized that he did not want to let the man go anywhere. Not into the desert, not into space. At least for this night. Mando, fortunately, was in no hurry to go anywhere.</p><p>“It's not perfect,” he said finally, putting down the plasmacutter. “But tomorrow we can go together. You can modify it yourself”.</p><p>“Exactly…” Cobb said, desperately searching for the right words. “You know, my shoulders ached from wearing all this. How can you wear it for days?”</p><p>“Your shoulders were tired because the armor didn't fit. Mine is a part of me”.</p><p>Cobb had no answer to this. The next step was to offer a little shoulder massage, but Din cut off all paths for that.</p><p>“How about a drink? Cocktail for a good job, huh?”</p><p>“Fine. I have rations, dinner’s on me”. Din wiped his hands on a clean rag and went into the kitchen.</p><p>The same ritual again: Din by the fireplace, Cobb and the child in the workshop. And again Din felt so close, but at the same time infinitely far away.<br/>
But when Cobb returned, a large mug of something brown and sweet-smelling was waiting for him.</p><p>“Cocktail. You wanted... but I did it myself”. Probably Din was so sorry for the inconvenience. - “Rabbat, molasses, whiskey”.</p><p>“Everything you’ve found, basically”. Cobb felt a strange warmth in his chest. Mando took care of him. Just to think about it...  “Well, cheers then”.</p><p>They clinked glasses, Din carefully slipped the straw under his helmet. It looked funny, but Cobb pretended to laugh at the kid who smeared his muzzle in molasses.</p><p>After the first round, everything was decided. Cobb wouldn't have forgiven himself if he hadn't tried.</p><p>“I asked about your shoulders… the armor... I know a couple of tricks, and you probably have a couple of knots that need to be relaxed. Just sit as you are, and I…”</p><p>Din was silent. Cobb was about to back off when he finally sighed.</p><p>“Fine”.</p><p>As if he had finally made a decision. Cobb mentally approved.</p><p>Mando's shoulders were hard as his beskar, and the tension did not disappear, as if he had completely turned into a statue. Cobb understood him. He himself was as nervous as if it was his first time.<br/>
He slid his thumb under the scarf, and froze, feeling the hot, vulnerable skin beneath. Din stopped breathing for a second too.</p><p>“Is it necessary?”</p><p>“What? I mean…” Cobb was unable to regain his former light tone.  “There is nothing necessary, how can I…”</p><p>“I mean what you are doing now. Not what you were going to do next”.</p><p>Cobb squeezed out a chuckle and, plucking up impudence, ran a second finger under the scarf, flexing tense muscles.</p><p>“Well, I would have to undress you for what I was going to do later. Can you handle this?”</p><p>“You don’t need to undress me if it would be quick”. Din relaxed a little. Finally, all the cards are on the table.</p><p>“Why the quickie? We've got the whole night ahead”.</p><p>“I haven't had anyone for a long time. I won’t go slowly”.</p><p>Now Cobb laughed genuinely. Oh, Mando, always discussing all details of a deal!</p><p>“I haven't had anyone for a long time either, but I'm in the mood to be gentle right now, so I'll help you not to go to hyperspace”.</p><p>“Are you going to control me?” So much irony in that voice! But at the same time it was something that made Cobb get goosebumps. Danger.</p><p>“As you want it. It will be difficult with this helmet on, but…”</p><p>Din fell silent again. Cobb did not rush him, kneading his neck and shoulders, memorizing the feeling.</p><p>"I'll take my helmet off," Din said finally. Voice quiet, barely audible, but determined. “Enough. I must put the child to bed”.</p><p>Cobb immediately stopped. He did not feel any excitement or joy. For some reason he was worried about Din. As if he had pushed him towards something irreparable.</p><p>The kid drowsed, the clawed little hand stuck to the molasses. Din wiped it off and took the kid to the workshop.</p><p>"It will be great," Cobb assured himself, warming up a frozen can of grease over the fire and thinking that he was probably wasting his time, they weren't discussing anything like that ... "Cuddle, jerk off... nothing special, not the first time. But you need this, Mando ... Din needs this. You are both sensible adults, what could go wrong..."<br/>
And yet Din had never seemed as vulnerable to him as he did now.</p><p>“Put the fire out,” Din said, coming back and pulling off his gloves. His movements were sharp and nervous. “No light”.</p><p>Cobb obeyed. The fire died, and in complete darkness he could hear the boots falling to the floor, the rustling of the overalls and the metal clinking against the clay.</p><p>Suddenly, against the small window large enough only for the Lone Star, Cobb saw the proud silhouette of a stranger: an aquiline nose, tightly compressed lips, tousled hair. A moment, and he disappeared into the darkness, and Cobb followed him as if spellbound, and fell into a trap.<br/>
Din could indeed easily pick him up and lower him gently.<br/>
And his fingers were light, dexterous when it came to buttons and fasteners, but then he somehow hesitated and Cobb literally had to take everything into his own hands.<br/>
He didn't know if the Mandalorians allowed kissing or not, and it seemed weird to ask. Din just pressed their foreheads together and fucked a fist slippery with grease. Clearly, he was not up to tenderness. His hands held onto the ledge-shelf in the wall, and Cobb heard only the squelch, gasps and the crunch of plaster.<br/>
Oh, Mando...</p><p>“Wait ... wait, we could do better…” Cobb let him go, afraid that Din will now stop tearing the wall and just strangle him.</p><p>“I don't need better”. The voice sounded unfamiliar, and at the same time Din seemed to finally appear here in the flesh. “Just let me finish”.</p><p>“Come on, what about control?” Cobb chuckled. “The first option: you can fuck me. Not my fist. The second: if you lie down calmly, I will blow you. I'm certainly not a twi’lek whore, but no one has complained yet”.</p><p>“I didn’t say I’ll give you control”. Din’s voice softened a little, but he still couldn't relax. Cobb understood him: being in a strange house, naked, without a helmet ... he probably already regretted that he had agreed.</p><p>“Well, it's up to you. Then what about "two suns"? Or do proud Mandalorians not suck?”</p><p>“I can do it”.</p><p>Cobb himself was not very fond of "two suns": uncomfortable, distracting, takes time to synchronize with a partner ... but Din will relax if he knows for sure that his face is not visible. So worth it.</p><p>Setting himself on top, he snatched a couple of minutes to cover the flat, muscular belly with kisses and bites, to feel the track of fine hair from the navel down (or, in his position, up). Mando was not a smooth slave boy, and neither was Cobb, but it seemed that both were fine with it, because Din simply fixed his buttocks with an iron grip ... and then Cobb remembered that he needed control himself. Mando, apparently, did everything in good faith and with full dedication. He didn't try to prolong the pleasure, just working. Cobb just had to relax and follow his rhythm.</p><p>“Hey… easier… are you… a vacuum compactor…?” - he tried to joke, catching his breath and slowly circling the cock with his fingers. For this, Din simply lowered him and relaxed his throat. He was clearly not in the mood to joke, and Cobb could hardly endure until he finally stopped showing off and let go ... only then he came, not thinking where it  would go. Before he even had time to bend over again, Mando came himself, with a strange, painful groan. His thighs trembled even after his cock went limp.<br/>
Cobb gently climbed off of him and wipe himself with the discarded shirt, then placed it in Mando’s relaxed palm.</p><p>“Wow. I won't ask where you learned it, but it was ... wow”.</p><p>“I wanted to do it properly”.</p><p>“Properly,” yes. Just to have a result.<br/>
On the other hand, what did he want? Romance? They are both too old and cynical for that.<br/>
And yet Cobb reached for Din in the dark, and, after a moment's confusion, kissed him. Chastely, as if they weren't just sucking each other off.<br/>
Having missed a little, he touched the tip of the nose, the stubble above the upper lip, but still got to the right place, pressing against his slightly opened mouth.<br/>
Din froze… and suddenly relaxed, as if Cobb pulled some switch. He was all like running water now, stroking Cobb's back, his cheeks, ruffling his hair, and kissing, kissing, softly, carefully, like a lover.<br/>
Cobb, not expecting this, melted. Yes, it turned out silly: foreplay after sex, but what did it matter? He even whispered some stupid tender words, even "oh baby" slipped out once, and in the end he simply buried his lips in the Din’s salty neck, catching his breath.<br/>
Din's fingers slid out of his hair, down the neck, and came to rest under the vertebra.</p><p>The star.</p><p>As soon as Cobb began forgetting about it, something always reminded him.</p><p>“Is this a brand?” Din stroked the scar, gently and calmly.</p><p>“Is this is problem?” Cobb was ready to get up and leave at any moment. But Din didn't take his hand away.</p><p>“No. But you protect the place where you were a slave. Why?”</p><p>“Who said I felt like a slave here? I worked in a rich estate, drove the master's herds, shot the Tusken. On the way back, I always stopped at Mos Pelgo for a glass, and no one was happier and freer than me on these rare moments. No, I have never been a slave in this town. I was myself ... and then ... since I got my freedom, why didn't the others deserve it?”</p><p>He didn't tell about what happened in the basement of that estate. And how, one night, it all burned down to the ground, and the owners could not get out because someone blocked all the doors. Never mind. Now he is free and lies with a man who understands him like no other, even without a detailed biography.</p><p>“And you, Din? Are you a free man?”</p><p>“I follow the Path”.</p><p>“Is that the answer?” Cobb rested his chin on his chest. “You look like a hunted bantha, always waiting for trouble, never rest. Is this freedom?”</p><p>Din shifted under him, trying to get up.</p><p>“It's time to sleep, not philosophize”.</p><p>His voice was so tired that Cobb just couldn't let him go.</p><p>“Easy, easy. Let’s do this: you will stay here and sleep properly, without your helmet and your beskar. I will lower the curtain and lie on the floor by the fire. Rest, Mando. You are safe here”.</p><p>Din exhaled and squeezed his shoulder gratefully.</p><p>“Thanks”.</p><p>Cobb could not resist and kissed him again, stroking his prickly cheeks, and Din hugged him, as if he was not going to let go, caressing him like someone dear... but when Cobb was on the floor by the cooling hearth, a wall grew between them again. Full stop.<br/>
Well, apparently this was the way.</p><p>***<br/>
And yet Cobb woke up in a great mood, refreshed, as if ten years younger. He used more generous amount of water to wash, trimmed his beard and mustache, found a new scarf and a shirt.<br/>
He and Mando will go hunting this morning, and by evening they will be back with or without the Devaronian. They will sit down at the hearth, and maybe Cobb will tell the kid  some fairy tale that has passed the Mandalorian censorship.<br/>
And at night, Mando will drop his armor and become his Din again ...<br/>
But first the caf and breakfast. Then he needs to ask Issa-Or to babysit the kid.</p><p>Din hadn't gotten up yet, his relaxed hand on the pillow was visible from behind the edge of the curtain. Strong, muscular, with short broken nails.<br/>
Cobb stepped closer silently. Is it a crime to see a man whom ... with whom they had so much together? Just for a second. Just to… admire how he sleeps.<br/>
He pushed the fabric aside, breathless.<br/>
Jackpot.<br/>
A strong-willed face, like a statue of some ancient hero: wide cheekbones, wide jaw, aquiline nose. The lips are unexpectedly full and soft, a little puffy… oh, how good it was to kiss them... brown hair curls over the forehead, and eyes ...<br/>
... big, dark, alive. And in them every emotion is reflected instantly. Surprise, fear, anger ...<br/>
He'd better wear a helmet. Really.<br/>
Cobb recoiled, but it was too late.</p><p>How did Din get dressed so quickly and even put the helmet back in place? He escaped like a wild animal from the cage, zipping up his overalls on the go, tore off the curtain and threw it at Cobb. Without slowing down, he burst into the workshop and clattered his armor.<br/>
Cobb stepped closer, knowing how hard it was to put it on alone.</p><p>“Need help?” He asked hopelessly.</p><p>“No”.</p><p>“Well ... breakfast?”</p><p>Mando rushed past again, pushing him away with his shoulder. Sleepy kid cooed in his arms.</p><p>“Wait, are you going to drag him with you?!”  Cobb blocked his way at the door, and felt a gust of prickly wind on his back.</p><p>“Yes. He won't stay here. You cannot be trusted”.</p><p>Cobb felt himself getting angry. Mando had the right to freak out about his religion as he liked, it was his business. He had the right to be angry. But to endanger a child?!</p><p>“Did I sell you out to someone, friend? Or maybe I attacked you?”</p><p>Mando stopped.</p><p>“I trusted you. With everything. You were not allowed to do one single damn thing, and for some krayt spit reason you did exactly that”.</p><p>Cobb rolled his eyes.</p><p>“I just … look, I just admired the man who made me feel so good. Without any ulterior motive, because that's what people do. They ... sometimes like to look at who they fucked! They … sometimes want to repeat it in the morning.</p><p>“Enough” Mando squeezed past him to the motor-speeder he'd brought in yesterday and stuffed the kid into the saddlebag. “Rejoice to be alive. I would kill anyone else for the lesser”.</p><p>The kid squeaked something for goodbye, and they rushed off to the fading Lone Star. Where the horizon was dangerously cloudy over the desert.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>At noon Din realized his mistake. Two suns were blazing overhead, but it was not getting any brighter. The sky was covered with a subtle brown haze.<br/>
The storm was coming faster than he expected. Kriffing marshal wasted his whole day, and this is what happened.<br/>
He was angry with himself and with Cobb. Especially with himself - for giving in, for believing. And the next morning it turned out to be a disappointment.<br/>
Several times Din took off his helmet and put it back on. Without a helmet, the sand grazed his face, and the sun threatened to scorch unaccustomed skin. The helmet felt wrong somehow: too tight, too loose, too… unnatural. This has never happened before. But before, he wore this helmet by right.<br/>
Now he did not know what to do with it.</p><p>He needed to turn back and drive at full speed to Mos Eisley, until the storm struck, but that meant finally admitting defeat. Din had no right to defeat. He needed money. Therefore, he drove towards the dark horizon, looking for any unnaturally lying stone, any clue.</p><p>On the way he came across a Tusken caravan. For several days they had seen nothing but a wall of sand.<br/>
But Din drove forward, wrapping the baby up to the very nose. He had time, a little more time. He and the child will receive payment and will no longer depend on anyone. And then... then he will think about his sin.</p><p>The storm struck like a giant fist. Twilight came in about half an hour, visibility dropped to zero. Din turned back, trusting the compass in his helmet, but the compass malfunctioned and began to rush. There was no more "forward" or "back". The speeder’s engine choked on the sand.<br/>
It seemed to Din that he was flying in place, until a rock suddenly floated out of the darkness and struck a spark from the speeder’s frame. He tucked the baby under his cloak and jumped off the speeder, stuck to the rock, searching every inch, praying for a cave in it.<br/>
There was no cave, but in one place the rock rose enough to roll under it and sit down. The ledge shattered the storm like a breakwater, and in the ensuing calm, Din was finally able to catch his breath.<br/>
And understand that he is not alone.</p><p>***</p><p>The Devaronian was very bad. His leg, tied with a rag, was swollen, his gaze wandered. He reached for the blaster, but missed each time.<br/>
Din gave him a sip of water, put an anesthetic stim into a vein, but it was more complacent than necessity.<br/>
He could finish the target off right here, wait for the storm to end, and bring a corpse, but the message said "alive", the dead man might not be paid for.<br/>
Since Din left the Path, everything has turned against him.<br/>
Cursing, he pulled the weakly rested target out from under the rock and loaded him onto the speeder. The navigator showed that they were one hundred and thirty kilometers away ... no, two hundred ... no, one hundred and fifty kilometers from Mos Pelgo, the compass went dead. And Mos Pelgo was now shut down for him, so he need to go around it, without stopping, to Mos Eisley ...  If he would understand which direction to go.<br/>
There was no glory in a lonely death amidst of a sandstorm, but Din never cared about glory, and least of all now. Now death seemed like a logical retribution for sin and shame, the last deliverance. But he also had no right for deliverance, because the child clung to his cloak, sticking a clawed paw out of the bag.<br/>
He had to move. Anywhere.<br/>
It grew darker with every minute. For a while the suns were still seeing him off, trying to warm him, but their strength was exhausted, and darkness fell.</p><p>***</p><p>Sand crunched on his teeth, clogging up the air filters, and Din felt as if he was suffocating, drowning in the icy water. The fingers, gripping the handles, refused to unclench, the white rump scratched the visor - snow mixed with sand, ruthless sharp crystals.<br/>
Din lowered his head to meet them with beskar and closed his eyes. All the same, sight would not give him anything now, neither the headlights, nor the flashlight.<br/>
He tried to think about the Way. About how he could atone for his sin if he get out ... but thoughts, having made a circle, returned to a quiet house to a burning hearth. It was warm there. Cobb sat beside him and shook his head as he listened about the sandstorm. And smiled.<br/>
There's the Lone Star in a small window. He could see it, leaning back on the pillow ...</p><p>...star... a star-shaped scar, so vulnerable ... how can Cobb wear the sign of shame with such dignity, such honor?<br/>
... but there was nothing shameful about it as there was nothing shameful about taking off his helmet in front of Cobb. In the dark or not, there is no difference. There was no danger or humiliation in this. Only trust ...</p><p>... and Cobb betrayed him. Without remorse, without even understanding, without meaning and purpose ...</p><p>He began to fall to the side, and it woke him up. The child pulled his sleeve demandingly .</p><p>- What?</p><p>The kid leaned out of the bag, with a paw and  his whole body stretching out,  showing the direction somewhere to the left.<br/>
Din shrugged and altered the course. He didn't trust himself anymore, but why not trust the child?</p><p>***</p><p>By noon, it was clear that the dust storm would not pass.</p><p>Cobb forced himself to think that Din had enough common sense to just return to Mos Eisley. Because if not ...</p><p>Cobb forced himself to think that he hadn't sent Din and the kid to their deaths. Stubborn Mando dug his own grave. It's nobody's fault. It's nobody's fault.</p><p>In the evening, when a storm covered the town, he could not stand it and wandered to the Smokehouse, hoping to find Issa-Or. Farmers demanded marshals’ participation in some kind of land dispute, it was necessary to decide whether to intervene or not ...<br/>
In fact, he just didn't want to be alone.</p><p>He was lucky, Issa-Or was just shaking out the sand from the headband. Across the table, Yoro was shuffling a pazaak deck.</p><p>“Celebrating your freedom?” Cobb asked, dusting himself on the threshold and pulling the scarf off his face.</p><p>Yoro sighed.</p><p>“I won't get home today, anyway”.</p><p>“Then I have something”. Cobb pulled a battered camtono from under the table and quickly punched in the code. Camtono opened to reveal an amber bottle of whiskey.</p><p>“Do we drink at work now? I thought you were busy with your Mando”. </p><p>Issa-Or put the headband on again and took out a jar of balm from her pocket. Her damaged lekku reacted to the storm just like Cobb's knees. She always said that the balm does not relieve pain, but "at least something has to be done, right?"; Cobb had the same thoughts about pazaak and whiskey.</p><p>“Mando left on his Mandalorian business”.</p><p>“And you let him go in this weather? Are you avenging your armor or what?”</p><p>She was joking. But for Cobb this joke was like a blow to the liver.<br/>
Sent him to death. Traitor. Traitor. Where are all your principles, Marshal?</p><p>“He's not a fool. He must have returned to Mos Eisley and is now sitting in some cantina.</p><p>Din stormed out in a panic. Yes, it was Mandalorian panic, cold-blooded and reserved, but ...<br/>
How do you feel when your life is ruined by the one to whom you have entrusted the most valuable?</p><p>“Cobb? What happened?”</p><p>“I… offended him.</p><p>It sounded stupid, but what else can you call it?</p><p>“But Issa, love, this is no longer my problem. If I see him again, I will apologize, but he is unlikely to want to see me, so let's just drink and play pazaak. Yoro, deal the cards.</p><p>Issa-Or said nothing, but she did not refuse drinks and a game either.<br/>
The storm roared and shook the shutters, it was cozy in the Smokehouse. The electricity was cut out, so they lit a fuel lamp, and the fire reminded Cobb of Din again.<br/>
If it were not for the betrayal, Din would have been  sitting with them, and the kid, was eating Issa's balm from a can when no one was watching.</p><p>When the door slid open and a tall figure appeared in a cloud of sand, Cobb jumped up first, throwing cards ...<br/>
No. Wrong one.<br/>
Tusken slammed the sensor, closing the door, but remained standing in the aisle. He roared something, waved his hands, as if promising reprisals. Issa turned to Cobb.</p><p>“These are cattle boys, they wandered through the storm for several days. They ask permission to wait in the town and get some water. Ready for exchange”.</p><p>“Yes ... yes, let it be. Weequay was going to buy meat, send them to him... no, wait”. Cobb clenched his fists. "Can you ... ask him about Mando?"</p><p>Issa brought her open palms up to her face and made several guttural sounds. Tusken immediately answered.</p><p>“They met Mando in the afternoon, he was driving towards the storm”.</p><p>“I see,” Cobb replied and pushed the glass aside. “Right”.</p><p>The further path lay in front of him, straight and clear.</p><p>“Cobb!” Issa jumped up to hold him. “Cobb, don't even think about it!”</p><p>But he didn't think. He knew.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>They’ve repaired the armor allright. Everything worked fine, even the heat retainer, until the speeder plunged, roaring, into a blizzard raging in the middle of the sandstorm.<br/>
The Mandalorians know how to survive everywhere. That was the only thing Cobb had hoped for.<br/>
But what if Din didn't consider himself a Mandalorian anymore? What if…</p><p>“No, no. Everyone wants to live”. Cobb's teeth were chattering from the cold. “And he wants to live too. Come on, Mando, fight, and I will warm you up, I promise. In a helmet, without a helmet ... just live, you arrogant bastard!”</p><p>He swore, enraging himself, but in the impenetrable cold darkness there was not a single living shadow, not a single sound except the rustle of sand and snow on his helmet.<br/>
As if the desert had buried Din, and threatened to bury the stupid marshal too.</p><p>“Mando!”</p><p>It was useless to scream, the speeder motor roared louder anyway. If he is here, he already knows...</p><p>“Hey! Mando!”</p><p>
  <i>"Come back, please. It’s my fault, I’ll take care of it, and I won't leave you, how could you think that I would leave you ... we'll come up with something together..." </i>
</p><p>“Din!</p><p> </p><p>Something suddenly gripped his shoulder with an iron grip, pulled him down.</p><p>He turned off the engine and almost laughed with relief. They were wandering a couple of meters apart, like idiots!</p><p>“Marshal …”</p><p>“Can you ride?!”</p><p>“What?!”</p><p>“Can you ride?! Follow me!”</p><p>Now the way felt easy for him. Din stayed close, but he was swaying in the saddle. He didn't fell probably  just because the gloves were frozen to the handles.</p><p>When they finally returned to the town, he climbed off the speeder and pointed to the strange bundle strapped to the saddle.</p><p>“Devaronian. He needs a doctor …”</p><p>“And you and the kid? You too were battered a lot”.</p><p>Din didn't answer. He was leaning against the wall, and it was only from his sudden slouch that Cobb realized that he fainted.</p><p>***</p><p>He must have died. Because, he blinked and fell out of the darkness and icy cold of the desert into the warmth, to the crimson reflections of the hearth. And Cobb was there, smiling, asking him something, as if nothing had happened between them. And the child ...</p><p>“Where is the child?”</p><p>“He is full and asleep. And your Devaronian is also fine, the guy will live and bring you a lot of credits”.  Cobb sat next to him on the bed, but did not touch. “I took off your armor, but did not touch the helmet, and forbade the doctor to touch it. I don't know if that will help, but ... I'm sorry”.</p><p>Din sat up, barely shaking off the dizziness.<br/>
Cobb deserved to be hated and scorned. But Din couldn’t feel either.<br/>
He took off his helmet, expecting a ton of sand to spill out from under it, but nothing happened. Only Cobb looked at him in amazement, as if he had seen him for the first time.<br/>
And ... admired.</p><p>“What are you doing, Mando? I thought you couldn't …”</p><p>“It does not matter anymore. I went astray from the Way. This cannot be fixed”.</p><p>Yes, he could have put on a helmet to find the Tribe, be silent about Cobb ... no one would have known. But this lie will poison his whole life.</p><p>“Look, you didn't go anywhere. You didn't even know that I was watching, and this is just my fa...</p><p>“No. I took off my helmet in front of you because I wanted to. I removed it myself and was responsible for all that came after. In the dark or not, it doesn't matter. I made a choice and now I have to live with it”.</p><p>Din turned away. He didn't know how much his face betray when he wasn't wearing a helmet. It seemed to him that he gave out more than he wanted. Otherwise, why would Cobb touch his palm, intertwine their fingers ...</p><p>“I don't need your pity, Cobb”.</p><p>He could barely control his voice. He was so tired ... could that be obvious too?</p><p>“I do not pity you. But I'm glad that you are here with me and alive. That's all. That's why I'm touching you, to… make sure”.</p><p>“I'm alive. Don’t know what for”.</p><p>They were both silent. Cobb stroked his palm with his thumb over and over again, and it was somehow soothing.</p><p>“What are you going to do now? Just tell me and I'll do it for you ... we'll figure something out!”</p><p>“I will seek redemption. If there is a redemption for me”.</p><p>“Until you find it…” Cobb gently touched the back of his head.</p><p>Din shoved his hand off.</p><p>“You do not understand…”</p><p>“...how serious is that for you? What's not to understand? When you took the armor away from me, I thought I would stop being a marshal. People will stop trusting me, I'll just become some bantha herder again ... but it wasn't armor that made me who I am. And you are always you”.</p><p>Cobb's words bore their own truth, the truth of an ordinary, maybe even a good person. But still, he didn't understand.</p><p>“I’ve made a mistake”.</p><p>“Now you’re playing coy”. Cobb leaned forward, trying to look into his eyes. “Let's be clear. You will seek redemption, Mando. Yes? Well then, tell me that it's a shame - to waste your Way on fucking a bantha herder. Come on”.</p><p>Din was silent. There was no point in lying, but he didn't know how to tell the truth.</p><p>“I'm not ashamed. And it scares me”, he said finally.</p><p>What if there is no atonement? What will he become then? And who is Din Djarin if not a Mandalorian?</p><p>Cobb paused.</p><p>“I love you too, Mando. And I'll be damned if it doesn't scare me as much as it makes me happy”.</p><p>“Din. Not Mando”.</p><p>Cobb gave a short laugh. He, too, looked tired to death.</p><p>“No, you're Mando. This is who you are, with or without a helmet”.</p><p>Din didn't believe him, but said nothing. What's the use of talking? Tomorrow he will return on the road, looking for the lost part of himself. Knowing that everything is in vain, that that part remained forever in Mos Pelgo.<br/>
The part that kissed Cobb and caressed the scar under the collar of his shirt, and didn't want anything else, and didn't deserve anything more.</p><p>“Listen, now is not the time, but ... in the desert ... how do you know which way to go?” Cobb whispered, kissing his cheekbones, his lips, his chin.</p><p>Din closed his eyes and touched the scar again, trying to memorize a feeling.</p><p>“The Lone Star guided me”.</p>
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